Rural New Home Build—School Me Up

[rtraverdavis]

First off, I followed the New House Costs thread and understand how expensive things are at the moment. But my wife is finally very much on board with getting the hell out of Portland, and making the move out to rural Central Oregon—despite the costs and pay cuts we will sure take. It’s about being in a place we love and raising our kids in that environment, not about an investment property or something like that.

But so anyway we have a seven acre piece out near Bend that we’d be starting from scratch on. Well, septic, excavation, and the home itself—we’d need to do it all, and all of it would be hired out as the extent of my construction skills and experience doesn’t go much past changing lightbulbs.

I know there are a number of contractors and builders on here, as well as other folks who have recently been in our shoes. Are there specific things we should look out for when hiring a builder? Which items in the build would you absolutely not skimp on? Any pieces of advice for someone who is pretty ignorant to the world of construction? This is a whole new endeavor for us, and we really have very little idea what we should expect or try and plan for. We will not be able to swing it financially until my student loans are paid off, which will be in about two years, so we have lots of time to plan. Happy to provide more details if it helps. Thanks guys.

-Randy

One more thing—in order to comply with Big Fin’s mission for this forum, as stated in the Blue Lives Matter thread, this move would put us on the border of a large tract of BLM land, in one of the best mule deer units in the state, which I can only imagine would stoke the flames of public land hunting and conservation in my kids as they grow up there, so...

 

[squirrel]

scheduling, scheduling, then again scheduling, either by you or your general. Driveway NOW, let the construction traffic pack it in, sans final gravel/grading. Power NOW to a temp pole if they will do it some locals will not until improvements are started.

Well/pump NOW at least to a frost free spigot. Perc test and septic engineer NOW so you can tweek placement of house if need be, don't skimp on the test pits as long as a lift pump is not required to get the crap there.

You've got two years quit reading hunting stories and start reading "how to" books! This shit isn't rocket science, but it does resemble hard work.

 

[Mallardsx2]

Find a contractor NOW. One that you can deal with that will take your questions and return your calls. If they take a week to get back to you. Move on.

 

[Hem]

Yep, cost always goes up. Be realistic about what you need vs what you want.
I recommend to people...the best expense not to skimp on is insulation. Its a difference maker 12 months out of the year.

 

[rtraverdavis]

Find a contractor NOW. One that you can deal with that will take your questions and return your calls. If they take a week to get back to you. Move on.

We’re meeting with a contractor tomorrow evening over Zoom. Very responsive so far, we’ll see how the meeting goes.

 

[rtraverdavis]

scheduling, scheduling, then again scheduling, either by you or your general. Driveway NOW, let the construction traffic pack it in, sans final gravel/grading. Power NOW to a temp pole if they will do it some locals will not until improvements are started.

Well/pump NOW at least to a frost free spigot. Perc test and septic engineer NOW so you can tweek placement of house if need be, don't skimp on the test pits as long as a lift pump is not required to get the crap there.

You've got two years quit reading hunting stories and start reading "how to" books! This shit isn't rocket science, but it does resemble hard work.

Thanks. I’m going to start cutting trees for the driveway when I’m out there in a few weeks. That’s at least something that I personally can do now. Next I’ll get the water witch out for a well. Thank you!

 

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

Haven't done it myself, but been around a couple folks who have and picked up on their complaints:

• Be weary of the upsell from the Contractor.
  • Well we designed around 2x4 construction, but we can do 2x6 for a "little more" but they don't give a hard price until the end of the project. I've seen houses end up 10-20% extra due to this
• Go into the price with a solid set of plans. Mainly for above, tell them specifically we want tile here, hardwood there and make sure they use realistic values for them.
• Test your well (no idea how the water is over there) may end up needing to plan for an RO system, or softening system
  • If you do either of these, most people run two water systems in their house, treated water and non treated (mainly for outdoor water, depending on what type of system. softening you'd want basically everything softened minus drinking water and outside water)
• Good advise on the septic, get that figured out sooner rather than later. If you can avoid the "mound system" that's always preferred and cheaper
• If you are having a basement, have them over excavate and backfill with gravel (high quality)
• For a garage, either connect a floor drain to the septic (not sure legal) or at least have the floor sloped so that the water drains out the front doors.

Tons more, but you get the idea. There are home building forums that tackle a lot of this kind of stuff that might be worthwhile. If you worry about having a perfect home it will be a miserable time checking in and making sure you like the work. If you trust your builder and check in every now and then, it will be a much more pleasant experience

 

[Gellar]

We finished building in a rural area in January. The biggest headache was lack of sub contractors Like plumbers and electricians. Our material quotes were about 20k difference from high to low and they were quoting the same material list.
the advice of septic, Site power, and Well are good. We owned our parcel for 5 years Before we built. If I did it again we would have done them all 5 years ago and had that portion paid off.
Be on site everyday there are workers present. They will have questions and want answers fast to be able to keep working.
Building a house will cause stress between you and your wife. Pick your battles with her.

 

[LuketheDog]

Congrats on picking up a cool property, have fun with this project!

Some things to do:
Get your design (and finish material choices) hammered out before getting bids, change orders can add to cost quickly
Ideally find a contractor on recommendation from other people who have used him
Use a contractor who is responsive to you and well-organized, per the people who have used him
Get multiple estimates for everything, don't just pick the first guy who walks in the door with a smile on his face
Get the site work/civil and utilities done way ahead, like @squirrel said
If a problem (real or imagined) starts to arise, nip it in the bud so it doesn't create bigger issues later.
Look at the GC's crew, if they seem like a bunch of slouches then things probably aren't going to go well.
Depending on how rural your location is, it might be slim pickings on builders, timelines may be longer, and costs may be higher

Here's a recent example of red flags to watch out for:
Some of my good friends just had a master suite addition done on their house. Instead of doing due diligence and interviewing a few GCs (including my dad who lives right down their street and has been building houses for 40 years) they hired a guy who's done "OK" on a couple smaller things for them in the past because he said he'd for sure be on budget and fast. It was like watching a car wreck in slow motion. His communication was horrible-wouldn't return calls for days and rarely set foot on site, his billing was abstract at best and he billed them for premium work while the work produced was sub-par, he went 8 weeks over on what was originally a 6-month schedule and $65K over budget on a $125K project with very few actual changes, the GC was recommending 'upgrades' to things as he went along (I think he was trying to use up leftover materials from other jobs), he was ordering WAY too much and had tons of leftover building materials (which he was billing them for), his guy crashed a Bobcat into their house, the job supervisor left a running truck in gear and it crashed into the neighbors' house-and he tried to drive off before anyone saw, they were storing materials for other jobs on this property, the crew hated the supervisor, they left tools and cigarette butts lying in the dirt all over the site, they didn't tarp the open roof and it sat through 3 thunderstorms-flooding their basement, the list goes on...

 

[Dougfirtree]

Thanks. I’m going to start cutting trees for the driveway when I’m out there in a few weeks. That’s at least something that I personally can do now. Next I’ll get the water witch out for a well. Thank you!

It can be worth asking well drillers what their policies are for payment if they fail to find water. Some charge full price, some don't. It happened to me once, so I'd ask.

We had one guy come out and drill almost 600 feet with no water. He charges full price no matter what. We hired a different guy, who used the little metal rods to find water (fun to watch) and he got us 9 gallons per minute at 43 feet. The two wells are 40 yards apart...

 

[hank4elk]

Witch the well to define homesite and access. The best view my not be the best place at times. You don't want a septic system upstream or near your water well or a septic system under a road or where you will park.
Access. Don't cut a narrow path that is restrictive,use cover & path for screening. Make the road accessable to larger vehicles for ease of construction,fire equipment,etc. Don't put the road where water collects if possible,use the terrain to your favor.

 

[rtraverdavis]

Thanks guys. This is exactly what I was hoping for.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Whenever you have a disagreement with your wife about how do do something on the house, sit her down and tell her, “ Honey, the guys on Hunttalk say we need to do it this way.....”

Good luck!

It will probably cost more and take longer than you want. Figuring out exactly what you are wanting and answering those questions about design, cabinets, finishes, trim, lighting etc., will help save time, money, and frustration in the end.
She will change her mind. You will change your mind. That’s all good before the actual construction of each individual phase takes place. But, you’re gonna need to be sure the benefits of a change are worth the extra cost and hassle of changing when it happens mid-project.

 

[sluggo6850]

Yep, cost always goes up. Be realistic about what you need vs what you want.
I recommend to people...the best expense not to skimp on is insulation. Its a difference maker 12 months out of the year.

Especially make you have proper ventilation in the attic. Air in the soffit and out through the roof peak.

 

[NoWiser]

It all starts with a solid plan and a detailed set of specifications. Have this absolutely nailed down before you get bids, otherwise you are wasting your and the contractor's time. Ask for referrals and if you can walk through a home or two from past clients. This won't be a problem if they do nice work and maintain a good relationship with their customers throughout a project. Choose a contractor you trust, even if their bid is slightly higher. This is maybe the biggest investment you'll make in your life, you don't want to be second guessing yourself throughout the project.

 

[BrentD]

Thanks. I’m going to start cutting trees for the driveway when I’m out there in a few weeks. That’s at least something that I personally can do now. Next I’ll get the water witch out for a well. Thank you!

If you want a decent road, you will want the stumps out of the ground. To do that, cut them high so that a tall stump will give an excavator or dozer some leverage.

 

[Dan O]

Check the local permit system and what if any specific issues with septic systems. Are there covenents on your property? If so read them carefully, some can be a bugger with requirements. Check well logs for adjacent property's if any are close. Might give you an idea of the cost for yours. I'd get a well in and power asap plus permits regarding septic. Some government requirements can be a real pain.
Good luck,
Dan

 

[Cammy]

X2 on insulation being a priority. Bought a house that was built in the 70's and had ZERO insulation in the walls and limited insulation in the attic. Hired a crew to blow in the walls and I added 18 inches to the attic. Using a pellet stove in a 2300 sq ft house I could put it at 80 degrees for less that $4.00.
Read up on new construction methods that utilize thermal breaks in framing. Thermal breaks eliminate non-insulate-able bridging between the outside and inside of you home. In a normal house, the wall framing is directly connected to the interior and exterior sheathing. Solid wood does not have that great of an "R" value. If you were to add up all of the thermal "bridges" in a wall (1.5 inches x 8ft x number of studs) you could have several square feet of non-insulated wall area.
If you have a crawl space rather than a basement, make sue there is at least 4 ft between the final grade under the house and the bottom of the floor joist. If you have ever had to crawl under a house to run a new electrical circuit of repair a pipe you will know why having enough clearance is important.

 

[Irrelevant]

Dude, despite all the "nows" on here, the only thing you need to do right now is spend time on the property. Spend as much time as you can in all the seasons, the idea is that in two years you really want to have a plan for what the property will look like. It's a helluva lot hard to spin your house 90 degrees to catch the fleeting december sun or turn it so that the deck is in the afternoon shade after the fact. Definitely start looking at costs and permitting, but there's very little actual work to do now unless you simply want to. 7 acres is small enough that you can probably put your well about anywhere and run some poly to the house.

 

[deer_shooter]

Lots of good advice so far. Regarding contractors, double and triple check references. Interview other customers if possible. Not sure about out there but here good contractors are hard to come by. I went with a GC recommended by a guy I worked with. He was responsive at first and seemed anxious to get started on my build. The excavator and concrete guys were great. About 3 weeks in to the actual build it started going downhill. It turned into a nightmare that took 5 years to complete as i fired him and did virtually everything myself.
Again, triple check references. Get a mutually agreeable contract in place if you can. It would be wise to get more than one quote (even if ballpark) to ensure all costs are accounted for. My guy underbid my house by $60k.
Its good you have time and are not under the gun.